Chomp! Dragon Palace is my go-to for Chinese

Combination Lo Mein at Dragon Palace comes with chunks of beef, chicken and shrimp. It's a filling portion for one person and could easily feed two.

STAR RATING

FOOD: ★ ★

SERVICE: ★ ★

SCENE: ★ ★

★ = Meh

★ ★ = Good

★ ★ ★ = Great

TRY THISThey have a shrimp toast appetizer that sounds a bit odd, but if you like shrimp and toast, its a change of pace from the typical egg rolls or crab rangoons. They take a shrimp, butterfly it and put it on a piece of bread and toast it.

THE EATERY:DRAGON PALACETHE ONE SENTENCE REVIEW: TASTY AND A GOOD PORTION, TOO.

My work schedule has been pretty chaotic these last few months. I've had deadlines, assignments, Thanksgiving vacation, holiday shopping and other things that have been thrown into the mix. Add finding time to eat something in there, too, and I am certain many of us have been guilty of eating out more than we'd like to admit.

During my lunch break last week, Luke and I decided to eat at Dragon Palace as it's been one of our go-to restaurants when we don't have the energy to cook anything for dinner. The service is good and the food is decent. For a Chinese restaurant that isn't a buffet, the food usually hits the spot when you're hungry.

Luke is a creature of habit. It's almost a sure bet that he will order the General Tso or sesame chicken. Now that I think about it, he will order that at any Chinese restaurant we go to.

I, on the other hand, always try to eat something different. So this time, I ordered the combination lo mein.

Of course, we can never go to Dragon Palace without ordering a plate of crab rangoons. It usually comes with a side of sweet and sour sauce, but this time, our server brought us a side of the hot mustard. And it was hot. It cleared out our sinuses as if we'd eaten a small ball of wasabi.

I couldn't stop myself from eating it, either. Every piece of crab puff that put in my mouth had to have just a touch on it. I also couldn't stop from daring Luke to try a larger sample of it, either. I think at one point, his eyes started watering.

When our plates arrived, we moved the bowl of hot mustard away from us and armed ourselves with our forks.

My lo mein had big chunks of beef and chicken and a couple of shrimp, too. The noodles are always the best part of lo mein for me. They're firm, while still soft and have a light sauce that doesn't overwhelm the dish. Dragon Palace serves their version with green onions, which add a nice flavor to the dish. The portion was more than enough for just one person, so I took the rest home for eating later.

Luke ordered the combination plate with the General Tso, which comes with an egg roll, crab puffs (more for me), fried rice and steamed broccoli. The combination plates are big, too. It's rare if Luke and I finish our plates, and Chinese food is a great leftover.

Once this holiday season is over, I think it's safe to say that we won't be eating Chinese leftovers for long.

Jessica Rodrigo is looking forward to the 2013. Hopefully it will be a year full of new and wonderful food adventures. Know a good place to chomp? Tweet @eatseatseats or email jrodrigo@vicad.com. Happy New Year!